I was under the impression that the UK was fairly well placed with North Sea oil and gas supplies, but this article explains the situation.
I'd be a bit cautious about the article given it's from a lobby group.
It's the equivalent of big business writing an article which, no surprises, says unions aren't that great. It's a foregone conclusion they're going to say that.
Ultimately though the bottom line is North Sea gas and oil production peaked years ago due to resource depletion. It's not over, and it won't be over for a long time yet, but the peak is in the past.
Just as there's still a bit of oil coming out of Bass Strait today despite production having peaked in 1985 and being downhill ever since. It's not yet zero although that day is approaching.
The basic problem anywhere, once production peaks, is that import reliance and exposure to world market pricing becomes inevitable. The UK, and Europe in general, has no realistic prospect of getting gas production back up to a level sufficient to avoid that.
Where it gets more complex is with the economics of domestic production post-peak. Using simple round figures to illustrate, suppose that imports cost $10 per x quantity.
Regardless of the actual cost of production, a domestic producer is going to argue that they also ought be paid $10 for the same volume or at least reasonably close to it. That's especially so when it comes to the more marginal fields, those which are only viable at higher prices. That gas stays in the ground if the price is held down and then imports rise even further.
Ultimately though all that's really just detail. Once the resource starts to give out the rest is really just about detail.
It's much like coal in the UK. It wasn't Margaret Thatcher who killed the industry indeed production peaked before she was even born and was well and truly in decline by the time she became PM. All she really did was akin to turning the pumps off - the ship was going to sink anyway, she just made it sink a bit faster by ceasing all efforts to bail it out but it was sinking regardless.
UK coal production peaked in 1913 at 292.03 million tonnes according to official statistics.
1929 was the last year in which production exceeded 250 million tonnes.
1963 was the last year in which production exceeded 200 million tonnes.
1970 the UK commenced importing coal, domestic production having fallen to a level that could no longer meet demand.
1971 was the last year in which production exceeded 150 million tonnes.
1979 Margaret Thatcher became PM. At that time coal production was running at 122 million tonnes per annum so 58% below the peak.
1988 was the last year in which production exceeded 100 million tonnes.
1996 was the last year in which production exceeded 50 million tonnes.
2014 was the last year in which production exceeded 10 million tonnes.
2019 production was 2.17 million tonnes, less than 1% of the peak value just over a century earlier.
So political factors may have hastened the end slightly but the industry was well and truly stuffed anyway. Thatcher didn't stop the party, she just kicked the remaining drunks out of the pub at 5am.
Whilst that's about coal, the same applies to any mineral resource. Once the high grade, easily accessible deposits are used up that's it, it's all downhill from there with increasing costs and diminishing production.
As a case in point, back to the UK well coal production in 1972 was 127 million tonnes and it remained around that level through to 1983 at 119 million tonnes. So despite throwing massive resources at it in terms of subsidies and so on during that period, all they managed to do was keep production flat. That's what happens when you're faced with having to turn to progressively harder to extract deposits as the easy ones are used up.